DUI Checkpoint Friday Night; Drive Safe and Sober Labor Day Weekend

Driving Under the Influence (DUI) checkpoints have a positive effect in reducing the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol or drug-involved accidents. Such crashes show an average drop of 20 percent when well-publicized checkpoints are conducted.

The West Sacramento Police Dept. (WSPD) is arranging checkpoints periodically on city streets. A checkpoint will be in effect as the Labor Day weekend begins, Friday, Aug. 30, starting 7 p.m. and continuing to 3 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 31.

Officers stop drivers passing through checkpoints for signs of alcohol and drug impairment. Officers will also be checking drivers for proper licensing and will try to delay motorists only momentarily.

Drivers caught driving impaired can expect jail, license suspension, and insurance increases, as well as fines, fees, DUI classes, and other expenses that can exceed thousands of dollars.

In 2010, over 10,000 people were killed nationally in motor vehicle traffic accidents involving at least one driver or motorcycle rider with a blood alcohol concentration of .08% or higher. “DUI checkpoints have been an essential part of the phenomenal reduction in DUI deaths that we witnessed since 2006 in California,” said Christopher J. Murphy, Director of the Office of Traffic Safety. “But since the tragedy of DUI accounts for nearly one third of traffic fatalities, the city of West Sacramento needs the high visibility enforcement and public awareness that checkpoints provide.”

Funding for the WSPD checkpoint program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety grant, in association with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Public safety agencies urge everyone to work together to bring an end to alcohol and drug-impaired tragedies. As the message says, “If you see a drunk driver, call 9-1-1.”